Setting the Desert on Fire: T. E. Lawrence and Britain's Secret War in Arabia, 1916-1918W. W. Norton & Company, 2008 M02 17 - 400 pages Greed and intrigue combine explosively in this gripping tale of how the mercurial Lawrence of Arabia changed the Middle East forever. It was T. E. Lawrence’s classic Seven Pillars of Wisdom that made the Arab Revolt a legend and helped turn the British intelligence officer into the mythical “Lawrence of Arabia.” But the intrigue behind the revolt and its startling consequences for the present-day Middle East have remained a mystery for nearly one hundred years. James Barr spent four years trawling declassified archives in Europe and crossing the hostile deserts of the Middle East to re-create the revolt as the international drama it really was. A colorful cast of Arab sheiks, British and French soldiers, spies, and diplomats come together in this gripping narrative of political maneuvering, guerrilla warfare, and imperial greed. Setting the Desert on Fire is a masterly account of a key moment in the history of the Middle East, and a portrait of Lawrence himself that is bright, nuanced, and full of fresh insights into the true nature of the master mythmaker. |
Contents
1 | |
9 | |
Will This Do? | 21 |
The Uprising Starts and Stutters | 34 |
The Blame Game Begins | 43 |
The French Arrive | 55 |
This Was the Man | 62 |
Crisis over Rabigh | 74 |
Victory and Failure | 189 |
Where Was Lawrence? | 201 |
The Balfour Declaration and Its Aftermath | 207 |
Fighting De Luxe | 219 |
New Conditions | 229 |
A Complete MuckUp | 241 |
Preparing for the Push | 252 |
Holding Operations | 262 |
Turning Point | 86 |
Wajh | 97 |
The First Railway Raids | 107 |
Differences over Tactics | 124 |
Fighting for Us on a Lie | 135 |
Stalemate in the Hijaz | 146 |
Triumph at Aqaba | 153 |
The Impact of Aqaba | 160 |
Impolitic Truths | 168 |
Difficult Times | 180 |
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Setting the Desert on Fire: T. E. Lawrence and Britain's Secret War in ... James Barr Limited preview - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
Abdullah Allenby Allenby’s Amman Aqaba Arab Bulletin Arab Bureau Arabia army arrived attack Auda Azraq Bedu Brémond Britain British Cairo Camel Corps capture cars Clayton Papers Damascus Dara Dawnay desert diary east Egypt Feisal force French Garland Hijaz Hijaz Railway Hogarth Husein Huwaytat Ibid Ibn Saud Imperial War Museum Jafar Pasha Jeddah Jemal Jordan Joyce Papers July June Kirkbride later Lawrence of Arabia Lawrence’s letter LHCMA Liman von Sanders Lloyd Maan McMahon Mecca Medina miles military Mudawwarah Muslim Nasir Newcombe Nuri officer Ottoman Palestine Pillars of Wis Pillars of Wisdom plans Rabigh raid revolt Robertson Sept Seven Pillars Shaalan Sharif Husein soldiers station Stirling Sykes Papers Sykes-Picot agreement Syria T. E. Lawrence Tafilah telegram tion told tribes tribesmen troops Turkish Turks Wadi Wajh wanted Wilson Wingate Wingate Papers wrote Yanbu Young